By KATY SAVAGE
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BELLOWS FALLS — The person Amy Rounds admires most is her 12-year-old daughter Olivia.
Olivia was born with Down syndrome. She’s been through seven ear surgeries, an open-heart surgery and blood clot surgery. Olivia has speech and hearing complications, which make everyday tasks a challenge, and she has constant infections — but Olivia always smiles.
“She never complains, never,” Rounds said. “There’s just something about her. She makes me want to be a better person.”
Olivia’s determination and everyday optimism helped Rounds overcome her own health challenges.
Rounds, 43, of Westminster was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014. She woke up one morning with a lump on her side and swollen legs.
Rounds had three rounds of chemotherapy from October to December 2014. She lost all her hair and got “very thin,” she said.
“It was like having the flu,” she said. “Everything hurt and I just didn’t have any energy.”
Rounds never let that show to her family, though. She continued normal activities with her daughter, 17-year-old son and her husband.
Like Olivia, Rounds never gave up.
“She never lost her smile the whole time she was going through cancer treatment,” said Mary Jane Bosworth, Rounds’ friend and handbell choir director.
Rounds was just named Vermont’s 2018 Mother of the Year by the American Mothers Association, Inc.
American Mothers is a nonprofit that champions mothers from all 52 states who display inner strength in dealing with successes and challenges. The nonprofit organization looks for mothers with an interest in community events and enrichment activities for other mothers and families.
About 50 people attended a celebration for Rounds at the United Church of Bellows Falls on Saturday.
Rounds’ resignation only seemed fitting to those in attendance.
“That (is) a mother who goes far beyond,” said Bosworth, who nominated Rounds for Mother of the Year for everything she’s done for her children in the wake of health issues and challenges most never experience.
Rounds has one year to go before she’s in remission. She sees her oncologist every six months and goes to a hematologist because of a complication from chemotherapy, which resulted in damaged bone marrow.
Rounds doesn’t let this bother her.
“She always has a smile,” said Maggie Kyle, a friend and board secretary of the Fall Mountain Special Olympics team. “When there’s a problem, she’s always the first to come up with ideas.”
Rounds sticks to a regimented routine, which helps Olivia focus.
She wakes up at 3:30 a.m. to cycle before getting Olivia ready for her day.
Rounds has a white board that lists out every activity for the week.
The family has sit-down meal together every evening and every weekend afternoon to encourage Olivia to talk and form whole sentences. Rounds reads to Olivia every night in the bathroom — a habit that started when Olivia was a toddler.
Rounds, an avid runner, is always on the go. She is always busy but never too busy.
“There’s always room to add one more thing,” her husband Owen Rounds said as he described his wife’s approach to life.
Rounds has been an office manager for chiropractor Vernon Temple for the past 18 years.
Rounds is a Down syndrome advocate and hospital volunteer who helps other families with children with Down syndrome. She is a coach and public relations volunteer for the Fall Mountain Special Olympics team, where Olivia competes in swimming, bowling and snowshoeing. She is also on the prom committee at her son’s school.
Rounds was always driven, but she became even more driven after cancer treatment.
She puts all her energy into her children.
“Her kids are primary,” Rounds’ mother Carol Davis said.
Rounds will attend a conference in Washington D.C. at the end of April with mothers across the nation for her resignation.
Other local moms have received the Mother of the Year distinction in the past, including Betty Haggerty of Bellows Falls, who is now president of Vermont Mothers, Barbara Comtois of Rockingham and Liz Ainsworth of Bellows Falls.
Nominations for the next Vermont Mother of the Year begin on Mother’s Day.
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